The Chicago Bulls pushed all of their chips into the middle of the table. At the trading deadline, they sent Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr., and 2 first round picks to the Orlando Magic for Nikola Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu, then this offseason they signed and traded for Lonzo Ball, sending out Garrett Temple, Tomas Satoransky, and a 2nd round pick. I like both of those moves, the Vucevic trade is a bit more questionable now because one of the picks became the 8th pick in the draft (Franz Wagner) as the Bulls did not qualify for the play-in tournament. Then the Bulls made a move I didn't quite understand, they traded Aminu, Thaddeus Young, a future first round pick, and 2 future second round picks to the Spurs for DeMar DeRozan.
The Bulls have not made the playoffs since 2017, and have not been better than 8th seed in the Eastern Conference since 2015. At the 2017 draft, Chicago committed to a rebuild as they traded Jimmy Butler and Justin Patton to the Timberwolves in exchange for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and Lauri Markkanen. Markkanen and Dunn no longer play for the Bulls and Jimmy Butler led the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals in 2020, a place the Bulls have not been since 1998, though it was not the Timberwolves so that was good for Chicago. LaVine has turned out to be a star for Chicago so that is a positive and since he is going to enter free agency at the end of the upcoming season, the new Bulls front office had to make a decision, either commit to LaVine and make a push at the playoffs, or start the rebuilding process all over again, they chose the former. Adding Vucevic, Ball, and DeRozan is that all in push. The question is: is it too all in? Making a playoff push is never a bad thing but trading a bunch of future picks while doing so is really risky, especially if you are not acquiring a player(s) like James Harden, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, or Anthony Davis. Why did the Bulls move so much for DeRozan, and more specifically, was it a mistake?
DeMar DeRozan is an excellent player, who can really score the ball and has improved his playmaking tremendously since he was traded to San Antonio. He will likely be the half court point guard, allowing Chicago to use Lonzo Ball as more of a combo 2-guard who can be the lead transition guard, as DeRozan is a better half court playmaker then Ball is. However, he is a 32 year old guard who does not shoot 3 pointers or play any defense whatsoever. Not to mention, Chicago was already a bad defensive team in 2021, so adding a non-defensive player in DeRozan certainly does not help that. Signing a 32 year old to 3 year contract worth $85 million, about 28.3 million dollars per year, while also trading good role players, and multiple draft picks, including a first round pick in a sign-and-trade is very risky, especially for a non-contender. The Bulls have not done anything of value since 2015 so trading a bunch of future picks does not seem very smart, especially considering the fact that you have already are a pick out and did not have your pick in this past draft, which was the 8th pick, it is a risky game pushing all your chips into the middle of the table on team, that has only made the playoffs once in 6 years. They received a first round pick, via Portland, in the Lauri Markkanen sign-and-trade so that was a good move.
A starting lineup of Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams, and Nikola Vucevic is a good team. The bench includes Derrick Jones Jr., Alex Caruso, Coby White, Tony Bradley, and Troy Brown Jr. That is not a bad team, it is actually a very talented roster with guys who can score, hit 3 pointers, and have some guys who can defend. However, their best players play no defense, Nikola Vucevic is not guarding anyone and neither is DeMar DeRozan. They are not one of the top teams in the East, the Bucks, Nets, Sixers, Heat, Celtics, and Hawks are all teams that I believe are better, and the Knicks are more likely to become a better offensive team then the Bulls are a defensive team, so I have 7 teams that are better than the Bulls and that does not mention the Wizards, Hornets, or Pacers who were all also better than Chicago last season. They will likely be in the play-in tournament. I would be very surprised if they didn't make that play-in, which returns in 2022 after a very successful first 2 seasons, but are they going to repeat what the Hawks were in 2021? That idea is very unlikely, they are not as well rounded as that Hawks team was, and they do not have the singular talent on their roster that Trae Young was for Atlanta. Why Chicago has decided to push all of their chips into the middle of the table on this team, is beyond me.
The Chicago Bulls have been irrelevant for far too long, but I am not sure this is the solution. I am not totally against any of the moves they made by themselves but giving up all of those picks to acquire a pair of players who are on the wrong side of 30 seems short sighted for a team that should not be all in on the short term. The Bulls are all in on the 2021-2022 NBA season, with a team that simply is not a championship contender.
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